Women’s Wear Daily did a really nice feature profile on Active Ride Shop in their Independent Spotlight section today.
It was so nice that it didn’t even mention any of the problems we’ve all been hearing about since last fall: no mention of the fact that many manufacturers are no longer shipping product to Active, or the rumor that one company spent last fall physically removing product from the stores. The only nod to the realities of the current business climate was this from Active President Shane Wallace:
It’s tough right now. In our 20 years, this is the most interesting and most difficult environment to move in I’ve seen,” Wallace said, adding that he would wait to up the store count until the economy improves or until Active finds an investment partner to help take the chain national. . . Looking toward the new year, Wallace is cautious, but positive. “We’re playing it very conservative for 2009,” he said, adding that he wouldn’t rule out store closings, if needed. “We’ll do what makes sense for our business.”
Yeah, playing it conservative probably isn’t a bad idea at this point.
[Link: Women’s Wear Daily]
